Real Kyper & Bourne - Playoff Picture in the East with Jason York and Aaron Ward

Episode Date: March 19, 2025

Nick Kypreos and Justin Bourne welcome in Jason York (10:30) – co-host of the Coming In Hot Sens Podcast and former NHLer – to chat about the Ottawa Senators' recent performance behind Dylan Cozens, what an elite goaltender does to a team's focus, Brady Tkachuk's playoff style, how Ottawa has bought into head coach Travis Green's system and habits in playing from behind, and their chances of holding onto the Wild Card spot. Then, Aaron Ward (32:13) – Stanley Cup Champion with the Carolina Hurricanes – stops by to discuss the Canes' perspective on the Mikko Rantanen experience, how the team has played after the trade, whether their defensive-first style of play is sustainable, and how Carolina will approach making transactions after striking out with Jake Guentzel and Rantanen.The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Sports & Media or any affiliates.

All right, let's take it national on the real kipper and born show. We are live on sports at 650 in Vancouver and sports at 960 in Calgary. This hour of real kipper and born brought to you by bet three, six, five, Nick Kipriels, Justin born, Sammy McKee and a couple of minutes. We'll welcome in Jason, your co-host of the Coming In Hot Sends podcast, which included a loss last night to the Montreal Canadiens.

Why are you looking at me like I got three heads? Oh man, what do you do between our Leaf Edition show and get ready for the national show? You have one job. Can I tell you what I was doing? I was perusing Ticket master for tickets to the home opener next week for the Toronto Jason's where we're off next Thursday I was perusing ticket master and if and and you find decent prices we sold out pretty sold out. That's good

Yeah, lots of people that's good people upstairs What do you could see it's available on Friday, but lots lots of tickets not many tickets left for the home opener So I was just having a look and then I forgot to take all by coffee tomorrow. Sorry guys So I won't if we had a we put a Montreal Canadian Jersey. We don't have one don't have one We know anyone in Montreal. Don't like us. They're setting us a jersey Marty St. Louis would send us a jersey Yeah, I think you were Jersey after you cook them for running up and down the stairs I cooked sports net Marty's just being a team guy yeah there there there I mean what a story yeah this is incredible they were eight

points out of the last wild card spot at Christmas. I think I'm gonna be honest with you guys I'm done trying to figure it out. I really Can't do it anymore. Especially this year. This year is super weird yeah, okay, cuz we watched a very either tired or bland or bad Calgary flame hockey club in Toronto on Monday night and then go into New York City and keep the Rangers to like a handful of shots,

like three quarters of the game in. It felt like- How can that be? How can that be the same team? They left Toronto and I was like thinking to myself like, this is the beginning of the end for the flame. I was like, they may lose five in a row here felt like may not win again To the Rangers in Madison Square Garden, and then they go in there and went so like Coronado look good last night

What a night by the way Montreal's dead to rights to the sense comes back and wins Vancouver put the boots to the Jets where I was in here talking about the all vibes matchup being flipped Oh, and what do we say like waste eight days? I said this is that series this game like Has to be one of those where if you could possibly Just plant the seed in the event that you play Winnipeg in the first round I think last night kind of did that I think so I mean, well listen, it's you go into a series being like, all right, we've beaten before. We know what it looks like. I mean, you're on pace to have one of your

greatest seasons ever. The Jets are clearly going to win that division. How about got to play every night? Yeah, I see your point. Like, have you got a couple a little bit more rest the guys want to play guys? Have they learned not very much in the past few years I think the fatigue could be a bit of a factor in the first round. He's gone so far now I don't even know, you know if whether Scott or Neil or any boys or shoveled they offer even Mark Chipman can go to him and say Connor come here. I'm gonna tell you how it's gonna be now, right?

Yeah, but- I think, I don't know, if he's not on board, if he's like, I wanna play! Right. It's like, what are you gonna tell him, no? Yeah. Yeah! I know you want to, that's great, I love your drive. You're not doing it in March.

If you're gonna establish that type of possible pecking order You would have done it in November or December You don't surprise a guy by having him call every start he wants to now Know I mean he's unbelievable. He's having an amazing season. He's played 53 of their 69 games they've played so far this season. To me, if I'm a Jets fan, I'm just saying,

can we just maybe back off this guy a little bit? Let Comrie get in there and get a couple touches here and there just towards the end to see if that works for the first round because last night was a little bit spooky if I'm a Jets fan. There is something, there's a conversation to be had about Jets talk is a little negative today by the way.

How much power these players who have the bigger contracts than their coaches should have because yes, they deserve all the money and yada yada yada. But when you're a team who knows what's best for your team, your coach still has to be able to make the call. So like, I'm thinking here in Toronto where Mark Giordano in his last year in the NHL was saying, I got to play. I got to play. I need to keep the engine revving. I got to play.

And it was like, you don't have to let him. Just because he's a pro and a veteran, a good guy, you don't have to let him. John DeVaris, he came and comes out of the Four Nations break looking great. He's fresh. If down the stretch, you're safely in a good guy you don't have to let him John DeVaris He came and comes out of the four nations break looking great He's fresh if down the stretch you're safely in a spot And you say you're gonna watch two games, and he says I don't want to cut bounce I'm the coach right and I say you need to be able to have that authority. I think I'm not saying that you Wrong, but I am saying that like now is not the time Why not? This is when he needs the rest.

It's before playoffs. It is the time. Now is the time. They have almost have a hundred points already. They're established. But you have to you have to program these guys. You just don't hit them over the head. You can't go.

You can though. Yeah, you can. But it may not be the best idea. To your point. Because these are. You want to take them out of rhythm. They're nucleus guys. You are at the mercy of your stars, and that's why there's different rules for different guys But I just don't see I

Don't see anybody in the Jets organization calling Connor over here and going we got to reassess the next 15 games. You're only playing Six of them. I mean that ain't flying now. No, no, there's gotta be some balance there. You know, if you can get them, I don't know, at least get five, six starts for the backup down the stretch. In his last three seasons, in 21, 22, 66 games he played. In 22, 23, he played 64.

You need him for two months of playoff. And the year before this year He played 60 and now he's about to play 53 plus four in the four nations all three in the four nations He didn't play against Sweden the meaningless one like we the Winnipeg Jets. We need a cup Yes, trying to win the first round. We need this guy to be able to go two months of playoff hockey. Yeah What do they have how many games you got left? They played their 69th game last year last night. So that would mean they're team games, okay, so Nine

Give me eight. He played eight. Okay Nine game they have a nice every other day schedule for a little bit They're a little break the last five date games that are five days of the season They have one game and it's Anaheim at home. That's nice. The Jets should win a playoff round for sure. For sure. We're just not sure if it's a wasted eight days for their opponents. Well, Vancouver did scare them a little bit.

The Blues, by the way, still sniffing around on the heels of the Vancouver Canucks. Calgary Flames two two points back in Utah with a devastating loss last night. Do you dare call for standings? Is our show progressed to the point where we can call standings up? I don't know. Let's see. Can we get this? Yeah! This is great. What a world. But as you can see, two points separate the Canucks from the Blues and the Flames Sorry the Canucks and the Blues from the Flames and then two more to Utah

Yeah, you thought had a bad loss The other night last night last night. Yeah, they weren't close Like it was that felt like a team the Oilers who are I think at home talked about it yesterday being like we're certainly Tighten up our details heading to wars of play-offs It felt like there was a finger heading towards the switch for the for the oilers it did and last night hymen and echoing back It's like that's it was no Comparison like they just ran the same game calgary had in toronto. They did that's exactly right Which means but what that says to me they'll come back and win. But those teams are overextended, right?

They're like, OK, we need Logan Cooley every night to be awesome. All right, we need great showings from Zeri. These are big asks for these guys over long stretches of time. All right, who we got in this hour here, Kip? Jason York coming up next. Talks Sens. Yeah. Yeah, and I mean, I'm not sure if they

could be totally disappointed with the loss last night. Of course, you're trying to win every game and it looked good there for a while for Ottawa up but they been on such a roll here lately. And it's true that like, as a fan, you're like, is it all falling apart? It's like, yeah, every team that you're the ones you're chasing, everyone's going to lose some games here. Too bad it was that one last night. So we shared that Dylan Cousins graphic today.

What's it been, five games since he's been a senator? First on the sends and scoring chances, first in slot shots on net, first in hits, first in face off wins wins second in controlled entries and You tweeted new Sam Reinhart his drop. Yeah. Yeah, I Just he's not isn't you didn't have a great night last night. Never gonna score 50 cousin cousin, okay But can he can be impactful like Brady Kachuk in terms of like physical.

Brady can score 40 or 50, but you know, can he be a lower scoring Brady Kachuk? Because he's a big dude. He wasn't playing overly aggressive with Buffalo, but he has potential to be a disturber out there, stay healthy, be physical, get points. Yeah, he definitely gives Ottawa a different look, but if you don't ask me, let's ask Jason York who joins us right now. Yorkie, what's going on, pal? Kipper, things are good, man.

Things are good. That's why we're late. Things are really, really good in Ottawa. And I know a little disappointment off of a blown lead last night, but overall, can we just point this to Dylan Cousins and the feel and the change of that? Or was this, this was in the makings for a while here and just needed to just find a way to get slotted?

It's a great question. Uh, I think it's a little bit of both kipper. I think in, in, in, you know, this when, when you're on a team and you make a move at the deadline, it just kind of energizes your group, right? You got, we just made a move, Steve Stales management, they believe in us. Uh, then they brought in Zetterlind as well. So I just think it was a message sent to the group. And then adding the fact, Olmark started playing extremely well, got healthy.

And the group as well, when they were on that little bit of a skid follows, they had no pinto. Norris was still on the team back there. He was hurt as well. Stutzel was bagged up. I think they got healthy. And once he got healthy, the goalie starts playing well. You make a trade.

Things just start to fall in place. You know, the Ulmark thing has been one of the real nice, I don't want to say surprises. He's just been awesome for the senators here. Does that change something just having a guy like, okay, we are finally solid back there? Well, Barney, what have you guys been saying about the Leafs all those years when we didn't have a goal of 10? Right. It's still frustrating.

It's like, I always say this. Show me a good team and I'll usually show you a good goalie. Show me a coach that's getting fired and I'll show you a goalie that's, uh, had a tough stretch, especially the playoffs. You get to the playoffs and it basically becomes a game of goalie. So I think with all Mark, he's a really calm guy fellows. And when you're a younger team, even when he wasn't playing, you have that calm influence around the group. He just settles you down. Like you just know you screw screw up, he's gonna make him he's gonna make a save and how about that save against Toronto, like maybe the best save I've seen in a long, long time like gloves, but he's, he's just super calm guys, he's super calm, he's super confident. And

that's contagious on your group when you when you got a goalie that kind of cares himself that way. You're watching and listening to Jason York, former National Hockey League co-host of Coming In Hot Sends podcast. So if we look at the season that Brady Kachuk's having or the development of Brady Kachuk, what did Four Nations do for him that you see now? Made him pretty popular, didn't he?

He was doing all the talk shows. Well, made him pretty popular, didn't he? Yeah, yeah, yeah. He was doing all the talk shows. But anything on the ice you see the way he carries himself or is he gone to another level here? When he came back from Four Nations, he took a couple games off. He was a little bit banged up and rightfully so. He was playing like a man possessed at the four nations. But then when he came back, he was at a different level.

And I'll say the same thing about Jake Sanderson and Bory. I know you're a big Sanderson guy and I think somebody might've tipped you off about him back in September on the show. I remember everybody was laughing at me when I said Sanderson is gonna be a hell of a player. But Kachuksouk so he's always going to be that guy that plays on the edge. But I just, he's added an element to his game

this year, guys. He can score from distance now. Like there's been a bunch of times this year when he's just not scoring from that five foot radius around the, around the crease. Like he's got a real nice release when he's on his offside. He's an underrated playmaker at all that in and like you watch his board battles. He's able to go in and strip guys with his stick. He's physical. He's just got a lot of different layers to his game. Add in the fact he's probably the most competitive guy I've watched in a long time. It just makes him he's, he's just a friggin' lot to play against.

And I'm excited if Ottawa gets in the playoffs. People saw we did it at Four Nations. It's, there's just not many guys in the league like now Kipper and Borny. Like how many guys in the league besides Tom Wilson, maybe a few other guys that play that style. And that's what just makes him a unique player, I guess guess. So what you know the the progression from being a not a very good team to a good team to a playoff team and up and up and up is you know they're all kind of progressive steps here does it not feel to you like the Senators are done being in that kind of bottom half of the league like they are even a bad Sen senators team is pretty good

at this point Yorkie. Like you know just speaking of someone watching them even their their B game is pretty good these days. You know what they do Barney and this is kind of what what I think the coaching staffs even when they don't have their best stuff and I didn't think they had their best stuff last night against Montreal. The way the way they play they kind of hang around in games they don't really beat themselves anymore. Keep it close. Always give yourself a chance. Getting key saves at key moments. They got some depth now. So they've got some depth throughout their lineup. Amadio starting to chip in. Pinto has been great this year. Ridley

Gregg. So they haven't had this kind of depth in a long time. They haven't had the goaltending, but I just think the system, the Travis Green has these guys playing like they bought in. So like I said, they just systematically they're a much better team than they were. It took a while. Like this just didn't happen at the beginning of the season. They took their lumps. But to me it's just they hang around. So many teams will shoot themselves in the foot and Ottawa was guilty of this the last seven years, but they've done a nice job of changing how they play buying into what the coaches have been selling them and it has paid off. Yorkie moments ago you said if the Senators make the playoffs buddy like to steal a Maple Leaf fans line 18-wheeler

off the road would have to happen for the New Yorker like a huge favor by Calgary beating the Rangers like how do you see the the focus and the Ottawa senators here to close this thing out because like they've got to be all of a sudden just starting to really build for that first round I don't see them missing I don't either Kipper I don't see them missing. I don't either Kipper I don't but hey let's let's try to play the games right. Yeah. They've got like I went and looked at all their all their games they got remaining in their schedule. They've got three games remaining against Columbus and two at home and one in Columbus.

Those are going to be massive. Columbus is still hanging. Columbus still hanging around. They're still hanging around Detroit still hanging still hanging around. The Islanders are all of a sudden back in the picture. So there's a lot of teams in striking distance. So for me, they, they got a tough one tomorrow. They've got Colorado and time who I think like the changes Colorado's made, like they gotta be considered the favorites, right? If not the top three, I think best defenseman in the league, arguably McKinnon best forward. So their schedule is advantageous, a lot of home games, but it's not going to be a layup. Like I do think they're going to make it, but I think there's going to be a dogfight right

till the end. Yeah. It's funny looking at it now Yorkie in terms of like playoff teams and non-playoff teams, they do have a pretty favorable schedule. I think five of their next seven after they two good teams in a row and then it's five straight non-playoff team So you would like to think that you know that they get up there. How do you like their odds as? An upset team, you know like there was no lock They'd make playoffs if they're gonna draw Washington, Florida something like that. How do you think they do? They have a chance our Sammy's scared of them? I'm scared. I said I saw the clip

with Sammy last week when you guys were talking about this exact subject. Yeah, I want to see the auto. Don't want to get a hot team with good vibes. Those young young first time playoff pushes. Because you're because you're playing with house money. You're playing with house money like like how the Washington capital is going to feel when the playoffs start and it's just zeros across the board for everybody. All that good you did in the regular season, that don't matter anymore.

That's why I love the playoffs. It's like you get in, you got an opportunity. All I'll say about that is I don't, what I said about Kachak, he's the captain, he's the heartbeat. He's going to be a problem for some teams in the playoffs. They've got a pretty good top four that can move the puck well. And if Omar plays like Omar can, they're gonna be a handful for somebody. So I wouldn't want to play them.

I think absolutely they could upset somebody because they're playing with house money. This team's goal was to make the playoffs and just see what happens. So it's a nice position to be in. Even if you beat Ottawa, like Brady's gonna hurt somebody on that team. Yeah, you're not getting through a send series feeling great. He's a maniac. You're a geek.

How do you see it playing out? What did you see last night from the Montreal Canadiens? And is this the way you see it finishing out? Can the Rangers, Islanders possibly get in there? Columbus or, last night, a look of how it's gonna close out? I've got a hard time betting against Schusterke. Like we just talked about how we like we just talked about goalies and how important they are coming down the stretch.

So if you look at those remaining teams and who who would you bet on if you were looking at teams with the best goaltenders that are kind of vying for those last two playoff spots? So I just I look at his body at work. Like you remember that series that the Rangers beat Carolina in and Rod Perendemore after the series was like, yeah, I don't know. We should have won. We just we couldn't score on this. Yeah, this is the greatest four games, you know, we are any teams ever lost is the greatest any four team has ever played losing. Yeah, right. Yeah. Like, like I don't, I don't love the Rangers, how they play. Like,

like I watched a couple of their broadcasts, even their broadcasts were crapping on them for how inconsistent they play, but a good goalie can just make up for so much. I know teams have a couple of games in hand, but I'm still sticking with the Rangers to get that second spot. But I'll tell you this, after watching Montreal last night, it wouldn't surprise me because they, man, they have bought into what Marty St. Louis is selling. Like that third line last night for Montreal with Anderson, Gallagher and Dvorak, man, they were full marks. Really tough line to play against. So everyone's talking about, you know, the the cousins edition at the deadline. How about Zetterlund? I think he's playing on the fourth line, you know, guys who are 20 and he's a young guy in the league.

Probably a surprising slot for him. Has it been working out? He's been, you know, he's been fine, Borny. Like a totally different role, like coming in. And the problem is for him, like you come into a situation where the team's red hot and Ottawa's third line probably was their best line when he came to town. Amadio's on fire right now.

Ridley Gregg's playing some great hockey. Pinto as well. And you're not breaking up the first line with Brady Kaczuk, Giroud and Stichla. And then you have cousins in Batherson who are playing some fantastic hockey. And David Perot, who's also playing his best hockey. So I think he's going to have to buy this time.

But I think he's been fine. He's getting some looks on the second unit. He's been physical. But that's what happens. Like, when you come from San Jose, you slot different on a different team. But I think he'll be fine. And he'll get his opportunity. And when he does, it's up to him to make the most of it.

Sorry, I just want to follow up. Giroud's season this year, has he maintained his level of effectiveness? If you watch him in games, Barney, I know the point totals are down. He still controls the pace of play when he's out there. Like his hockey sense is still right up there with the top guys in the league passing ability. The thing people like with Ottawa too, they evenly split their power plays. So your first unit, your second unit,

and Drew's been on both. So your point totals are gonna be down a little bit compared to other teams. Like if you look at teams like the Oilers, well their guys stay the whole two minutes. Ottawa's a little bit compared to other teams. Like if you look at teams like the Oilers, well, their guys stay the whole two minutes. Ottawa's a little bit differently. So people forget how much that impacts point totals. But I think Giroud's been fine, competitive as ever.

He's been great for the young guys. I still think he's got lots left in the tank. I really do. York, just one more for me anyways, regarding Travis Green and the job that he's done. There was times when I thought, is this guy going to get back in league? And I just watch him. I watch his demeanor. I watch his post games. He's, he's got something going on with this hockey club right now. The, the, the, the connection

right now is, is showing. Yeah. Well, I'll tell you, I'll give you a great example. We just had Timmy Stutzel on our show. And one of the things Timmy said was, our coach isn't afraid to call somebody out and tell you when you're not doing something right and sit you down. And he'll also tell you when you're doing something well. And you guys both, to me, those were the best coaches. They just don't shit on the same guy as they'll, they'll give it to guys equally. And he's been, he's been

all business, but he's also good at giving guys a pat on the back. And the biggest thing though, he got guys to buy in to play in a 200 foot game. So it's a told us on our show today, Greener actually called him in the summer numerous times to talk about expectations, what he wanted this year, what goal setting, all this. So he was really prepared coming into this situation in Ottawa and it's paying off. Like he's done, I think he's done a real nice job with this group. So far so good. Maybe the Ottawa senators heading into the post season.

Yes, let's do it. Yorkie. Great stuff as always. My friend. What's a dog dad? What is that? What kind of dog you got? I don't know.

I got this for Christmas from my kids. I'm a dog. I'm a dog. I got the golden doodle. Golden doodle. I live in a neighborhood where the golden doodle is the official dog of our neighborhood. Everyone's got a doodle. I don't know. I don't know about Toronto, but there's doodles. It's like

doodles everywhere. No one wants their dog to shed. That's all. Can we stop cussing on our show? He said shed. Oh, I thought. Look, I'm nervous. Shedding. Shedding! Oh, okay. Gotcha. Great stuff, Yorkie. Thanks for doing this, pal. Always a pleasure, fellas. Thanks, buddy. Did he swear? No, he said it was shedding. Oh, I thought he said the other word. And then I thought you said the other word.

Never in my life. Yeah, he was talking about that clip. We're not allowed to swear anymore. No, you used to swear like once a week. When no one listened to the show. Well, that was when I was off for like two years. The first year of our show, you swore twice a week. No, I did not.

Yes, and on purpose too. Yeah, like you're just. You're lucky to give it some juice. Yeah. And who else swore? Someone dropped an F-bomb. Stumpy had a couple. Stumpy, Ally, Afraidy, Red Hall. Red Hall. We used to have bomb. Stumpy had a couple. Stumpy, Ally of Frady, Bret Hall.

Bret Hall. We used to have a. We had a blue show. We should have had a jar, a swear jar that year. We would have made a fortune. He talked about that clip that like he referenced the clip of me talking about the Sens. Oh, they were so excited.

Sens fans loved that you were a little nervous. Oh yeah, but it's like, oh, they're talking about us on the big national show Better quit patronizing better quit that they're talking about us. Yeah Good for them you guys see much real getting Good for some of the years. They've been somewhat threatening congrats I've asked that question to a couple of people and he's the third, Yorkie was the third person to say, Rangers with Shusterkin and he was like,

couldn't even believe the Rangers were in the hockey game last night against Calgary. Like just the thought of still getting a point was just totally on Shusterke in here. Right. But they were so bad last night in front of him. They were. And what's crazy is you look at this team

and it's like, surely Columbus isn't the team and surely Montreal, no one thought they would be there. But he was like, who else has a good goalie who's in the mix? And I was like, Sorokin. Oh yeah. Have you been following Sorokin, who's been like the hottest goalie in the league the mix and I was like, Sorokin. Have you been following Sorokin who's been like the hottest goalie in the league for a while? Yeah. If Patrick

Waugh gets that Islanders team in the playoffs, I don't know, standing O. Right there. Hold on, just one more for me, Montreal. No? Still long shot for you? They got as good a chance as anyone. They really do. And they have some older guys who are like, here you go. Yeah, so they're currently in a spot, but I just feel like you have to have a couple of veteran guys and Suzuki and Caulfield are really good. And then you got Gallagher and Anderson.

Suzuki's been so good. Has been, he's playing very well. He is very, he is very good. He's very good, but I just Somehow when this team's ready to contend I don't see Suzuki and new hook One two down one two down the middle. I don't like to work at the point sauce they See for me. That's the team that should have gone after Dylan cousins Yeah, absolutely agree with Suzuki. Yeah. And I'm not even sure. Yeah, then you're starting to build on that.

When this team contends for Stanley Cup, I'm not sure Suzuki's number one center. No, you're probably right. He's a fantastic number two for me. Well, he's probably the 25th best center in the league or something. You know, like, he's good. But you can, if you're hoping to win a top,

it's tough to win with that. Game time. I was probably too harsh. Maybe he's a little better Probably a lot better than that. You could be a team Canada It's game time presented by bet three six five visit the app latest odds and find out why it's ever ordinary at bet three six five That's my team plus on terror only please play responsibly only two games tonight on the ice and the Toronto Maple Leafs are involved in one of them. They are home for the Colorado Avalanche. Gonna be a great game. The Leafs are plus 110 underdogs as you would imagine on home ice.

Rare to get the Leafs as a dog at all. So if you think the Leafs are gonna win, that's a number for you. I wouldn't probably bet that. I wouldn't bet that. It's there a plus 110 10 and the color avalanche are minus one 30. The other game in the ice tonight is the Seattle cracking in Minnesota to take on the wild wild are trying to accumulate as many points to hold on to one of their playoff spots at a big win over the Kings the other night. And this is the last show

we will do before March madness starts tomorrow. Yes. One of the John's red storm, baby. One of the best weekend, one of the best weekends in all of sports is the first weekend of March madness of the NCAA basketball tournament and the betting favorite to win it all a very familiar team at the top of the list. The Duke blue devils are plus 300 My cousin Gracie's alma mater the Florida Gators are the second favorite plus 375 and you're the Johnny's even the Johnny's they are

28 to 1 to win it all so if you think your Johnny's got a chance Borny 28 to 1 and you can go all the way down the list for all the different ones involved there But give me the Florida Gators who I picked to win it on my bracket. That will surely be done by the end of the first day. I did a bracket under three minutes last night. I went, I actually spent some time. Anyways, that was Game Time presented by Bet365. Visit the Athlete's Dog to find out why it's ever ordinary.

Bet365 must be 19 plus, Ontario only. Please play responsibly. OK, let's take a quick break. When we return Stanley Cup champion Aaron Ward will join us. We'll talk a little Carolina Hurricanes who have quietly won seven games in a row and they go out West starting tomorrow night to continue. Aaron Ward, when we return to the Real Kipper and Bourne Show.

Everything you need to know about the Blue Jays. Blair and Barker. Be sure to subscribe and download the show on Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. We're on. I'm so leaky right now. Nick Kibrioz, Justin Bourne, and Sam Rekey. Welcome to Real Pl plumbing and born. Shout out to the company, please tell me. What's going on? Like your ceiling's leaking.

Yeah, like we came back from Disney and I was like, I'm broke. And then like the kitchen ceiling was like swelling because I heard of the very famous children's book The Paper Bag Princess. That's gonna be him. So thin. I just don't eat. All potato. How do you know about these books?

Me? Yeah, because I was read them as a child. I was a veteran kid. I got experience. Yeah. All right. A reminder that this is a video. I'm going to be reading this.

I'm going to be reading this. I'm going to be reading this. I'm going to be reading this. I'm going to be reading this. I'm going to be reading this. I'm going to be reading this. I'm going to be reading this. I'm going to be reading this. I'm going to be reading this. Because I was read them as a child Veteran kid got experience. Yeah all right a Reminder that this real kipper and born show brought to you by beth 365 as we wait on Aaron Ward. Is he here? Wardo

How you doing? Good buddy. How are you still wearing green? What does that mean? Or st. Patats one of the two no I didn't get involved in st. pats day I was down and out on your well listen we appreciate you joining us man well wanted to get some some shout out to Carolina I know the organization has been through a lot and quietly is you know putting some non-believers in place with a seven game winning streak what have you seen out of them since this whole Ratan and thing was put behind them so I would tell you the disruption to the organization's civic in the locker room the moment we're in and entered in there was that

that I can't even draw upon experience. I don't know if you've ever played with a player that commanded so much attention, not because he was like a disruptor, but you kind of knew as a teammate that you want to put him in a positive situation. You want him to start off right. And it almost became the main focus of this team, if you watch them play, that Randon had to be involved in, part of a key contributor to a catalyst. And the team seemed to lose their identity and how they play. Also, it was not lost on the players, I think,

that this is not a system that was built for Randon. Like, Gensl might have been a better player in this system, but Randon doesn't want to have pucks lobbed in, doesn't want to have to go back in and battle them out and try and create offensive Off of off of board battles and get into the slot period He's more if you look at the avalanche style is bringing across blue line with possession train create off that so I feel like big word here

Carolina got discombobulated They they got away from what Roddy had systematically because they couldn't figure out what to do with Rantan and the forward grouping. And since then, it's like they've regained their identity. They're no longer worried about the external chatter of what's going on. They're back to being in a small market where playing style winning hockey under a coach that people love playing for, has seemingly kind of given them a boost. And you can see in the pairing and scoring right now, I mean they got nine goals in their top line, five in the second line, and from the third and fourth,

that's seven goals and six. So it's not like you can just identify them in one line and shut them down. And I would also tell you the D, I think also went the same route when Renton was here like they were out of sorts like mistakes on becoming of these guys that they weren't committing before and I feel like they found themselves I've never been enamored by Carolina's goaltending forever so I don't even have a commentary on that I don't always believe that they're they've got someone that's a game stealer on a given night. Okay so I look down the lineup and they've got guys

that can put the puck in the net, but aren't doing it at a tremendous rate. So when I think of Carolina today, especially coming off of four nations, I think of Slaven and a blue line. Is that their identity? So the rule here in Carolina is defensively you have to push the play. It's the same mentality as Laviolette had in 2006.

Doesn't matter who you are, you have to be up in the play. You have to be right in the face of the blue line to get up there and push the play. I would tell you that these guys are serviceable. Chadfield came, did he come from Vancouver? I think he came from Vancouver. Chadfield found himself here because a system fit him. Walker came from Philly and he was the type of player analytically that Carolina loves. Led the league and he was behind McCarran in rushes by defensemen. This is a style of play they want. So Burns is getting a little

long in the tooth and we acknowledge that, but he's still highly effective. So it's been Burns the Slaven who've logged the most ice time. Orlov currently, I think he's day to day or injured, I'm not exactly sure, but Gostis, Bear, and Walker, I think they've gotten more than they expected out of these two. So these guys have done a pretty good job. So a D-Core, Carolina's never been accused of having big names on D, ever, personally. Like, can you name the sixth offence in 2006? Probably not. So it's a collective group effort. I think a lot depends on their solid defensively and they rely upon the quick breaks and the tenacity, tenaciousness to create opportunities and turnovers for them to score. Especially the cop out right now, that's him day to day, doesn't exactly help them as they

have to move Blake up to the top line. But it's still a more potent team currently in the state they're in right now than they were when they had Ranton. And that's amazing to say. I have a couple of questions about Rod Brindamore I think the first one is just about his emotional state and handling of media like you know he was pretty upset about the ranting and stuff and said some things in the media and then Eric Tulski went on other shows and was just like he

gets a little bit like that he's a little over the top he's a very passionate guy. How does that play out in Carolina? So Roddy takes it personally. Yeah. It's like a slight rant and didn't want to be there. Oh, God. Hey, listen, we had an alumni skate when they retired Stalsie's jersey in January 12th. And you know, Commie, my Commodore, Commie might get a little chirpy with a couple of liquid beverages in them and then he started giving it to Roddy and then a bunch of us around were like, oh, I think we should back off a little bit and

Roddy is Even though he's in a coaching position He still views the game as though he's a player Yeah, right coaches are supposed to separate themselves from that. They're leaders, but not competitors Roddy will never lose the competitive component to him. It's going to be there forever. And I think that's where you get the emotion and maybe why guys love playing for him. That when you get to the locker room at the end of the first and second period, a lot of players know already what's about to get

said. And it's just a process. Coach comes in, yells at you, says a few F-bombs and it's over with. Roddy will get down in the trenches with you and get over and into it over what is going on Why are we mentally out? What are these things that are going on? So I find it of all that most hilarious part is Tulskys out there talking. I don't know if you know about Eric Tulski, but he's not exactly You know on the loveboat welcoming people onto the vacation land. But a real analytic guy, right?

He's never been accused of having a outwardly awesome, flowery personality. But this is kind of the shape of a managerial look that owner Tom Dundin wanted, right? And you know the last couple of cracks feels like it was more about the analytical side than the component of a feel, of an absorption of the culture. I don't know, I may be way off, but they're 0 for 2 between Gensel and Ranton and they're all for two. So I would view Gensel differently. My understanding

from that alumni weekend was that Gensel was in fact, for staying here. It was the it was the team shooting themselves in the foot and not doing what they needed to do. The problem is when you have an owner who is a business owner and has built his businesses, he has a tendency to get involved directly with the allocation of funds, technically his funds, in the negotiations with the player.

And that doesn't always serve well. It's not kosher with everybody. Sometimes you have to distance yourself there. So the Genzel one, Roddy really, really wanted Genzel back. And there were some funny stories about the first time I guess they saw each other in the hallway in Tampa, the interaction was more than awkward. But you have an owner in Dundon that has Tulski in charge, who understands the analytical perspective. The philosophy here in Carolina is,

if we can't get that player, we're gonna get a like player. And we're gonna get them for less. And we're gonna try and see if we can get someone, that guy to at least perform to a certain level where it's good enough for us. And that we will work around that. And they highly value the skillset of those people in the organization to do so. to a certain level where it's good enough for us and that we will work around that. And they highly value the skill set of those people in the organization to do so and they're

pretty good. But the problem is after a while, if you have designs in the Stanley Cup, you're going to have to do things like Jim Rutherford did, one on God, Mark Grecky, one on God, Doug Wade. He made some major moves. Now those are in season, but Carolyn has to deal with a very big problem now of random coming out and saying he didn't want to be in Carolina because it's not the environment he wanted to be in.

Truth is, it's a tough place to attract free agents who want to live in a Toronto or a Dallas or a New York or a Chicago. There are not glitzy, glamoury things on Glenwood Avenue. We have like five blocks of bars and tons of colleges. You have to attract guys that are like 28, 34, got kids. Beaches are an hour and a half to the east and mountains are an hour and a half to the west. And it's a great quality of living.

And travel here is hour and a half north, hour and a half south, you never have long road trips. So you have to come up with a new design on how you sell your team. And what should help this team now is apparently, and you know, when we come to investment in construction, apparently we're redoing the entire arena here in Carolina and the exterior. So that should create some atmosphere that didn't exist in 2006 when we held our Stanley Cup parade celebration in front of like 2000 people on a stage. All right.

2000 more than a lot of guys in the league, I can tell you that. It was a loud 2000. Yep. So I totally agree with you on Gensel in terms of him wanting to stay. The way I heard it, Wardo, was that they didn't come up with the money until it was too late. And it was just, again, maybe it's that business philosophy of how you negotiate, but he just didn't get Gensel's offer in time for him. Whose fault is that? So that's my question. Yeah. It goes back to what I just talked to you about.

So whose fault would that be? That would be the organization's fault. Who's in charge of that? Yes. It's the owner. The owner needs to, in some capacity, let go and allow the people who have the history and understanding of how the National

Hockey League works to do it. So my follow-up to you is is for a guy that's been burned twice now in this situation, do you see him doubling down as early as next season and not being scared or worried or learning from something like this and obviously using it to his advantage the next go-around? So I think that what exists here in Carolina is Justin Williams is his right-hand man. Like they hang out a

lot, they have a great personal relationship. I think Justin gives him solid advice. He's got a great rapport still, J-Dub does with the players, with agents, with people, and I think he gives a pretty good landscape understanding of what is and what isn't. In that time I got to believe that what is it seven and a half million next year and that's eight and a half and nine and a half there'll be a come to Jesus moment on how much you really want to win the Stanley Cup and how much money you were willing to spend. That's that's where we stand. Money will talk and I don't think they're up at the at the at the cap

quite yet. So I think they can make some significant moves. They've still got an amazing core of young guys right now that they can do great things with. So one thing I'm always curious about with Carolina, like you do some analytic stuff and have had some eyes on that sort of stuff. They're always like the top team in terms of possession. They have the puck all the time. They control a shot attempts. They control every hockey game they're in more than any other team in the league. Is that Rod Brindemore and his system of the way that he wants to play or is that the team construction and the people they bring in?

Aspects. So I would tell you that so I had one team tell me that Carolina is the most obnoxious annoying team to play against It's it there's a soccer mentality that comes from analytics where if the further this is soccer the further the ball is away from Your net the more likely it is that you're not scored on So the idea is that's why now off the the start of the game They kick the ball all the way down the far end. There's no puckage No, no ball control. Same premise here in Carolina. The puck's in the zone.

Notice how often Carolina lobs the puck out. Once it's in neutral, it's up for grabs. But tons of mistakes, tons of turnovers exist because they're tracking it and defensive have to turn and position themselves to find it. Further, they lob more pucks into the zone and retrieve them. Their rate of retrieval is nuts. So the retrieval battle component is Roddy Bryndamore. I don't believe that the lack of possession coming across the blue is Roddy. Roddy liked to always set it up and drive wide. He was an

old-school mentality guy. So I think there's many derivatives of this system that they play that I think that he's kind of evolved into and helped create himself. Great stuff pal and by the way you did a great job of talking about their blue line and their forwards and you just totally glazed over their goaltending last time I checked it was pretty important come this time of year. No like I said I don't we have been forever been forever. Think back to when they got eliminated by Boston. The I think Merazic was in that at that time. Oh, yeah. Yeah. And we have been begging I say we as in Carolina. Sure. They have been begging for a goalie here since

2017. Yeah, and not delivered. I thought Gibson was going there for sure pal. I didn't Make any and they were we refused to address it could check off good, but he's erratic Yeah, he's a wreck erratic erratic Yeah, erratic. He's all over the place like he's he's kind of sketchy in the net. He he makes acrobatic saves He's very athletic guy, but sometimes you're like play goal. Wardo great stuff pal thanks for doing this great insight on the Carolina Hurricanes. Thanks Wardo. We'll get you on again soon. Aaron Ward Stanley Cup champion he was really good really good and gave us some real... player as a guest.

Just 30 seconds ago. Yes it was wonderful. Yeah yeah and yeah he knows that organization very well. No? Should've got a goalie. Yeah, should've got a goalie. He's saying the same thing. Yeah. Just saying the same thing. Yeah.

Yeah, I mean, he like sat there and looked at that roster. Like I like their decor a lot too. There's a lot of, you know, Jackson Blake and, you know, pretty hot, Taylor Hall and Kakey Niemie and Rosalvick are a second line. Like they're a strange team. They all look the same in jerseys to me. Yeah, I love Martin Hook and it's all like those guys are.

You know, he spoke of the owner now, just trying to figure it out, knowing that you're gonna have to spend more money and you can't really treat it like a million other that companies that you just bought, trying to figure out what's scraps and what's still good and piece it off. And it's like, no, we're talking about lives and we're talking about players that need to feel more than just being bought. For sure. It is crazy, though, like, who's had more playoff games than them over the past five, seven years? Like they go to the conference final, feels like every year.

And the owner gets six, seven home gates. And then they hit a wall and they're not good enough to win a championship. And they hit the wall of Sam Bennett running into Jacob Slaven, the hardest hit maybe in NHL history. But like they seem to, more than any other organization, and I shouldn't say more than any other, but more than most, prioritize long-term health of the franchise. Like they're not willing to just burn the boats

and go all in, which I think it is a bigger risk when you're in a place like Carolina of having those seasons where you're just no good and people are like, eh, we'll just go to Pinehurst instead. But if you burn the boats and then like a couple years you suck, then you just lose

your whole fan base. So you want to kind of be consistently decent so that you're always involved and they're always in it. It's like St. Louis and Washington. If you're one of the better teams long enough, maybe things break your way one year. I don't know if it's this year for them, but if you've got to get next year, wouldn't pick them against any of them. Would you pick them against Florida or Tampa or?

Probably not. Ottawa? Yes. Our thanks in our Leaf edition to Dr. Jason Smith. That was awesome. Jason York and moments ago, Aaron Ward. Quiet night in the National Hockey League, which means you don't touch this dial.

You just stay with it because at six 30 will pregame Colorado and Toronto Maple Leafs. Let's go. Sammy excited. Here's a score for two Colorado. I'll leave swim. Yeah, let's go. Come on. We're in Canada. Sammy. Come on. We're in Canada Sammy. Come on Everybody thanks for joining us